It may be the season of goodwill, but police have demonstrated this does not extend to those suspected of drug dealing.

Officers raided four houses in Barry yesterday as part of a crackdown during which they have seized drugs with a street value of up to £3,000.

Inspector Andy Rice said: 'Drug dealers and criminals don't take holidays over the Christmas period - and neither do the police.'

A total of 30 officers executed the search warrants, assisted by a police dog and a sniffer dog.

The raids, in Gibbonsdown, were the culmination of a three-week operation codenamed Lincoln, which has seen the seizures of quantities of heroin, amphetamine and other illegal substances and drug paraphernalia with a street value totalling £2,000 to £3,000.

Neighbourhood Pc Kate Lerwill said: 'We forced entry and executed warrants at four separate houses with the aim to disrupt the supply of class A drugs.

'The exercise was undertaken in response to community concerns about drug activity in the area.

'We work closely with the community and value their assistance in providing us with important information.'

Insp Rice said: 'This operation reinforces our commitment to robustly targeting drug dealers and, although we executed a number of warrants, we would still like to provide reassurance to the local community that Gibbonsdown is one of the lowest crime areas in Barry.'

Anyone with information is asked to contact the neighbourhood policing team on 01446 731623 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

n Police said today a total of 27 people have been arrested over the past three weeks.